15 Easy Ways To Make Extra Cash
Regardless of what your day job is or what you like to do in your free time, let's face it - everyone could always use a few extra bucks. Whether it's something that you absolutely need to fill in the gap because you haven't yet found a dream job that pays your dream salary, or whether it's simply because you want a little extra money for shoes, it can be handy to know that you have a bit of extra money coming in.
However, after a long work day, the last thing many of us want to do is put in hours at a gruelling second job. Sometimes it's necessary, but if you're just looking for a way to pad your bank account, you don't necessarily need to find a second job slinging burgers or serving shots into the wee hours of the night. It can be a lot easier than that.
While the tips on this list aren't necessarily going to net you a guaranteed second income like a second part-time job might, they're a great way to make a few extra bucks with little to no effort required. And what could be better than some extra money that comes without you having to do a whole lot for it?
Here are 15 ways to make some extra cash. What you spend it on is completely up to you - we're not here to judge if you're side hustling for a pair of Louboutins.
15 Pet-sit
Babysitting, while it might be an easy gig to find clients for (there are so, so many moms and dads out there who need a little private time for a few hours), it is not necessarily easy. After all, you have a human life (or lives) in your hands! So why not try pet sitting? Anyone who owns a pet and has gone on vacation knows that boarding your pet at some type of kennel can easily add up to as much, or more, than you're spending on your vacation. The only solution is to get a friend to watch your fur baby, but that isn't always a possibility for everyone. Thus, the need for pet sitters. Pet sitting doesn't require a ton of effort - you just need to make sure the pet is fed, walked, and played with. Owners will gladly give a pet sitter a bit of money to avoid forking over huge amounts for boarding.
14 Sell something on Craigslist/Kijiji/Whatever is big in your area
Everyone knows the saying that one man's trash is another man's treasure, and it's definitely true. Unless you're an extreme minimalist, we're betting there's a handful of items in your space that you've tucked away for years and basically forgotten about. While you might not be able to sell anything that's damaged, if it's something that you simply bought and just didn't really use, or something you don't really love anymore, there's a good chance that someone out there would be happy to take it off your hands for a few dollars. Toss the items you unearth up on whatever sales site has the most traffic in your area, and get a few dollars for basically de-cluttering. It's a win win!
13 Return that thing you never ended up wearing
You know those killer shoes you bought, even though they didn't really fit that well, despite the fact that you knew they didn't fit that well? And then you never wore them, because about 10 seconds in you felt like that stepsister in Cinderella trying to squeeze into the shoe that was several sizes too small? Well if they're just sitting in your closet, untouched, tags still on, stop putting it off and deluding yourself and just return them already! While there's nothing wrong with splurging on a great item of clothing, if you bought something and it's still sitting around your closet in the same bag it came in, chances are you'll never use it. Just return it, and you've made yourself a few extra dollars that you weren't even missing.
12 Rent out a parking space
This idea will likely depend on the area where you live, and what your living situation is like. If you live in a tiny apartment with no parking stall whatsoever, this isn't the tip for you. However, if you have an apartment or condo with an extra parking stall, or even a driveway in a high demand area of the city, why not make a little money from space that's essentially just sitting there unused? Parking spots are in high demand in certain areas, and they can be incredibly expensive. Rent out a space to someone who needs it, whether they need somewhere to park when they commute for work or if they simply have no reliable parking near their own space, and you're making money doing absolutely nothing.
11 Have a garage sale
We know, we know - the thought of a garage sale sends many individuals running. Who wants to get up early, haggle with someone over a ten cent trinket, and end up putting half the stuff back into storage when it doesn't sell? If you only have a few items you're looking to sell, it might be best to just list them individually on some type of sale site. However, if you have quite a few items you're looking to unload, a garage sale is way more efficient. Sure, you'll have to sacrifice a weekend, scrolling through social media while you sit in your garage and watch people browse through your things. At the end of the day, though, depending on who visits and what types of items you're selling, you could easily make a few hundred dollars.
10 Walk dogs
There are a lot of guilty pet owners who would like to take a break halfway through their workday to take their dog on a walk, but it's just not possible for a lot of pet owners who work long hours away from their homes. There are also many people who have limited mobility and just can't give their dogs the type of exercise they need. There is definitely a demand for dog walkers, and quite frankly, you don't have to be specifically trained to ace this gig - you just need to love dogs! Put out the word and connect with some pet owners looking for a type of dog walking service, and you'll soon be getting paid to spend some time with adorable dogs while also getting in some exercise. What could be better?
9 Seasonal chores, like shovelling snow or mowing lawns
You need to have a fairly specific skill set to complete a lot of DIY things around the house - no one is going to hire you to put up the drywall in their basement if you haven't proven you have the skill to do so. However, basic seasonal chores like shovelling snow or mowing lawns don't require a lot of skill, and they're often in high demand - some people aren't able to complete those types of labor intensive chores, and quite frankly, some just don't want to. Ask around and you could easily put together a client list of a handful of people that will net you some extra cash.
8 Put an ad on your car
Most people who have a car are on the road quite a bit, whether it's commuting to their job, running errands in the evening, or just heading out to meet some friends at your favorite restaurant. Why not get paid to do what you're already doing? We're talking about ad sales for cars. You can easily sign up to put an ad wrap on your car, something that requires you to do nothing more than drive around as you normally would, letting advertisers essentially transform your vehicle into a moving billboard. This one is dependent on the area you're in - obviously, people driving in huge metropolitan cities will have more eyes on their vehicle than if you live in a tiny rural town - but it's undoubtedly a very easy way to make some extra dough.
7 Sell your pictures online
Do your friends constantly tell you what good photos you take? Have you ever found yourself wondering if you could transform that skill into money, without having to shell out the big bucks for a professional camera? Well, luckily, there's an app for that - Foap. In this app, users who sign up are able to upload photos to the app's marketplace, and then people can buy the license to your photo to use as stock photography. Now, the photos are vetted for quality - any photo you decide to submit will be vetted through the Foap developers, and not all of them will make their way to the marketplace. However, it's a great way to make some extra cash in mere minutes, if you have an eye for what might sell.
6 Give tours
Whether you live in a huge metropolitan city or a sleepy small town with some sort of historical connection, there's something interesting about nearly every locale in the world - and it's often something that tourists are dying to know. If you've lived somewhere for long enough that you feel comfortable showing tourists a part of your city, you could easily make some cash as a tour guide. We're not talking about the boring tours they could get anywhere - we're talking about things like a tour of the street art in a certain area, or perhaps of some spots where scandals had occurred in the past. You can certainly try to advertise your tours independently, but you can also list them on travel guide websites like Vayable.
5 Get in touch with your crafty side
In this day and age, it's increasingly rare to find items that are hand crafted. Sure, you might have a beloved blanket that your grandmother quilted, but we're betting all those mittens and infinity scarves just came from a boutique or big box store. There's a huge demand for high quality, hand-crafted items, and if you have any type of artistic talent - whether you're a fantastic knitter or skilled calligrapher - there's probably someone who would love to pay for some of your hand crafted goods. Whether you go global and try to sell on Etsy, or just buy a booth at your local craft fair, it's an easy way to make some money doing something that is likely already a hobby.
4 Rent out a room (or your whole space!)
If you're living in a studio apartment, there's probably not a lot you can do to capitalize on your living quarters. However, if your abode is a house with multiple bedrooms, one of the easiest ways to make extra cash is to rent out a room. Many people make money by renting out a basement or portion of their home, but if you don't quite have the money to turn your basement into a separate income property, make do with what you have. Just be sure to vet who you decide to rent to carefully!
3 Rent out something that you own
Many people assume that the only things they can make money renting are large items, like property or vehicles. However, that's definitely not the case - there's a lot of things you could be renting that you might never have thought of. For example, if you're a handyman with countless power tools in your garage, consider renting one of your tools out to someone looking to complete a project at home. You can also rent things like camping gear, skis, basically anything that someone might want to use once without having to buy outright, or rent for an astronomical fee from the source.
2 Freelance
If you have expertise in a certain subject area, there's a good chance that you could be making money in some way. For example, if you're a decent writer with a good amount of knowledge on a specific topic, craft some blog posts for blogs relevant to your area of expertise. If you're a trained graphic designer who makes a living doing something decidedly less creative, take on some design gigs on the side. If you're a personal trainer who generally works with individual clients, why not teach a boot camp class? There are countless ways to capitalize on your skills and earn a bit of extra cash without having to totally switch career paths.
1 Teach someone to do something
Pretty much everyone is looking to master something, whether it be a new language or a new instrument - and, if you have proficiency in something specific, you could be the one helping them do that! If you speak more than one language fluently, why not tutor someone looking to master one of the languages you speak? If you're a skilled guitarist, help an aspiring rock star master his or her chords. While you might not think some of your skills are in high demand, take a closer look - we're betting that there's someone out there looking for tips in mastering something that you know a lot about.
